The Art of Terror
by macadamia96
Summary: As Sakura stared down at the rotting twisted corpse something came over her. It was her turn to rage. To let the emotion out in the violent motions and sadistic acts of revenge. It was her turn to be the villain... A little bit of Sakura x Akatsuki...
1. Terror's First Embrace

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters mentioned in the story so far...**

Terror. That deep, dark, twisting being that lives in the pit of your stomach, always waiting to claw its way up to the surface of your mind. Do not let the terror grip you. Force it back into yourself. Force it past your clenching stomach, past the intestines that squirm in the fear you feel and force it into your feet, let it run through your veins, carried by the very blood you fear will be spilled. Allow that blood to flow into your arms and into your racing heart, but do not let that fearful screaming blood into your brain. For that shall ensure your death.

She could feel it… the cold hand of terror…it clenched at her as she sat there staring at the blood stained figure that lay prone next to her right leg. She could hear her teammates in the background. The abnormally soft sounds that they made provided some comfort to her, some, but not much. Her throat was dry and her mind raced, trying to find some explanation, any explanation as to what had happened here. Suddenly, there was a warm hand on her back. She jumped in surprise, her foot lashing out, slamming into the body. The corpse rolled over slowly until it lay on its side. Deep gaping holes where soft golden eyes once rested, gazed up at her. The mouth that used to smile kindly at tiny village children was twisted into a sick mockery of that smile, and held in place with tiny methodically stitched threads. Flies swarmed over the broken carcass, over the once soft skin, over the calloused hands and muscular legs, across the too large feet. Anger, pain, rage, loss. _Terror_.

Sakura's eyes dulled slightly as she stared into those twin caverns. The hand clenched, newly formed claws digging into her shoulder as Naruto hissed "Baa-chan" under his breath. The pain of having her flesh sliced open did not register and Sakura sat there, blood seeping through the heavy material of her shirt and over Naruto's piercing fingers.

"Bastards…I'll skin them alive…those…fucking bastards!"

"Naruto. Let go of Sakura's shoulder, you're hurting her."

"Shit! Sakura! Gomenesai!"

"Sai, go report this to the council. Action must be taken immediately. Find Jaraiya as well. This was the work of Akatsuki. He needs to know that they are active and probably still in Fire country. I'll sweep the perimeter. Naruto, set up camp and when I get back we'll perform the burial rights for Tsunade and lay her to rest."

"What?! Kakashi-sensei! You mean we aren't going to hunt down those bastards right now? We should go now! Before they get too far!"

Sakura stood slowly and turned. The front of her shirt was soaked and blood began to run down her left arm as her former sensei and teammate argued. "Kakash-sensei! If we don't leave now we'll be too far away to catch up!" Kakashi's visible eye swiveled around to rest upon Sakura's haggard figure. "Naruto, Sakura is in no condition to track any one right now, let alone kill an S Class criminal." Naruto turned to stare at Sakura then also. He winced as he saw a drop of crimson drip to the ground. The claws on his left hand were covered in her blood. It was him. He had been the one that had hurt her. Naruto's eyes, angry and red, softened as he realized what he had done to the medic. To his teammate. To Sakura. His Sakura.

Kakashi took Naruto's silence as agreement and squatted slightly, preparing for that first burst of speed that would propel him out of the shaded clearing and into the tall redwood trees surrounding them. He shouted a last order at his former students as he pushed off the ground. "Naruto, set up camp and get Sakura cleaned up. I'll be back within two hours." And with that the copy ninja was gone, leaving the two teenagers alone.

"Sakura- chan? Sakura? Come on Sakura." Naruto said as he pulled his smaller teammate along by the uninjured arm. Sakura did not resist the pull at all. Naruto turned to the right and started walking briskly in the direction of the large pond he had seen before they had discovered the corpse. No. Before they had discovered Tsunade. Naruto shook his head to clear his mind. Kakashi was right, there was no way that the kunoichi could travel in this condition. As the two figures neared the pond Naruto let go of her hand and began to unzip his heavy orange jacket. He let it drop to the ground in a wrinkled heap. He turned to his teammate and reached up to grip the zipper of her shirt. As he pulled the zipper down, revealing more and more of the crimson stained flesh and chest wrappings he whispered slowly, "Sakura-chan. Don't worry, please don't worry. Everything will be alright. Nothing is going to happen. We'll get them, Sakura. I will make them pay. Those bastards will pay."

Terror. The one thing that a person should never feel. Sakura could feel it. It was slowly working its way through her body. Who? Who could have killed Tsunade? Her teacher? The fucking _Hokage_? No. Not who. What? No human being would have killed another living creature in that way.

Naruto slowly pushed Sakura's ruined shirt off of her shoulders, and gently pulled it down her limp arms, letting it fall on top of his own discarded jacket. He gripped her hand again and pulled her towards the water. "Sakura-chan….I swear, we'll get them. And after they're dead we can get _him_ back. Sasuke."

_Sasuke. _The name. His name sliced through the chains that terror had wrapped around her brain. It brought forth another emotion. _Rage._ Pure, unadulterated rage flowed through the girl.

_How dare he? How dare he leave? How dare he try to kill Naruto? __**How dare he**__? How dare he not be there to protect his friends? Friends? What friends? You two were never his friends. You were just pawns. Things to take up space, objects to make him excel. And Tsunade? How dare they kill her teacher? __**She would make them pay**__. She would not leave this to anyone. Not Naruto. Not Kakashi. Not…him. It was her turn to rage. To let the emotion out in the violent motions and sadistic acts of revenge._

Naruto felt the muscles in Sakura's hands ripple and suddenly her grip tightened. His gaze flashed up to her face and he felt a faint sense of relief. She was back. Sakura could not be tainted by this. She would not change. Not the one constant in his hectic life. His relief turned to surprise as the grip tightened further, crushing the bones in his hand.

"Naruto…" His eyes flickered up to his teammate's face as he hissed in surprise and pain. She smiled at him. Not the normal smile. Not the "Good Morning Naruto-kun!" smile. It was a twisted, sadistic smile. Her eyes flashed up at him dangerously. "Goodnight, Naruto-kun." And with that, she pulled him forward and slammed her fist into the side of his head.

**Hello people! I just want to let you know that I love reviews... they get me in the mood to write...and besides...who doesn't want to know what the people think of their work...**

**And if you don't want to sign in, that's fine, because anonymous reviews have been allowed...Ok... that's all the begging I'm going to do...I SWEAR!! See you next chapter... **

**Guten Tag**


	2. Scars of Remembrance

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the character mentioned in this chapter**

**I have fixed up this loverly chapter a bit, although I will probably add more to it in the future! Until next time bows... (6/9/08)**

**Enjoy**

**...**

Sakura crouched hesitantly beside her downed teammate. Slowly she reached out to him, her hand trembling slightly as she ran it down the side of his face, leaving a trail of her blood in its wake. She winced when her hand reached the impact point. The bones in the side of his face had been fractured by her punch and his jaw was dislocated. The kunoichi shifted and moved her roaming hand to the medic pack belted around her hips. She slipped it inside and after a few moments of blindly groping around, finally found what she was looking for.

The case was small and made of black leather, its soft skin was tooled with a design of falling flower petals, and a small silver zipper ran its way along the edge. It had been a gift from Rock Lee. He had given it to her just after Naruto had left for his training. Sakura started when she realized that she had been staring at it for several minutes.

Wasting no time, she quickly unzipped it and, carefully pulled out one of the fragile syringes enclosed inside. The liquid inside the medical device sloshed angrily as she fumbled and nearly dropped it. Her ninja skills saved her, however, and she caught the needle moments before it hit the hard-packed earth. Wiping the blood off of the syringe and onto her medic skirt, she switched to her left hand and placed the right one on the back of Naruto's neck.

Now steady, she leaned forward and deftly punctured the flesh of his neck. Sakura pressed down on the syringe and pumped the liquid into the kyuubi carrier's bloodstream. The unconscious boy groaned in discomfort as the paralyzing concoction began to take effect. Satisfied that Naruto would not be able to move for a while, Sakura stood up, zipped the blood soaked case shut and replaced it in her pack, then began to make her way towards the pond.

She unhooked the pack and the long, gently curved scabbard that held a standard issue shinobi short sword, from her back, and laid them gently on the grass. Then, she stripped off her heavy, metal lined, knee high sandals and the heavy cotton medic skirt. Sakura placed the items next to her discarded pack and blade. The water was cold and although murky, it would have to do. In a slight daze, Sakura sloshed through the blue-green liquid until it hit just above her knees.

She dipped her hands in the water and with the help of her chakra, brought out a swirling ball of the liquid muck. Concentrating, she began to heat the water until it was almost boiling in her hands. Hesitantly, she removed her right hand from the ball and held it straight out, causing a fresh stream of blood to spurt from her wound.

Balancing the ball on one hand, she moved it until it was parallel with the injury and then in a quick motion that spoke of uncertainness, she placed the hot water on the deep gashes. Hissing in pain, Sakura tried desperately to keep concentrating, but after a few moments her makeshift cleanser lost its ball like shape and fell back into the pond, splashing softly. Her left hand reached up to the now clean wound and she began to cauterize it with chakra. After making sure that the scratches would not get infected or break open, she stopped healing them. The scratches would scar, but that was what she wanted. She wanted to have a memento, a reminder, a symbol, of the day that her sensei, the Hokage, Tsunade was murdered. A symbol of the death of her soul, of her desire to live like a good little Konoha kunoichi.

Abruptly, she turned and began making her way back to the shore. The water splashed onto her thighs, and dampened her water resistant leather shorts as she made her way back. She stepped onto dry earth and stalked over to her discarded supplies. Reaching into her bloody pack, she drew out the medium sized thin towel that she always traveled with.

Sakura worked the terrycloth up each of her legs and began to dry off her shoulder, making no effort at all to try and clean off the congealed blood crusted there. Without a second look at the rag, she threw the damp towel to the forest floor and reached up to her head, untangling her red hitai-ate from disheveled pink locks. Placing it on top of her pack, she sat on the forest floor and pulled on her boots. Buckling them, she stood and fastened the medic skirt around her waist once again. Leaving her pack behind, she grabbed the scabbard and hitai-ate and, skirting Naruto, began to make her way to the clearing where Tsunade's body rested.

The girl knelt reverently beside the corpse of her mentor. She carefully turned the body over so that it was lying on its back. Sakura gently brushed the sticky blood covered strands of golden hair out of Tsunade's once beautiful face. Picking up the hitai-ate that her sensei had given her so many years ago, she placed it over the gauged out holes where Tsunade's eyes used to be. Then she reached behind her to where the scabbard lay. Unsheathing the sword, she brought it down to the corner of Tsunade's scarred lips. Tentatively, she slid the blade under the first of the many neat black stitches that held the twisted smile in place. The coarse string fell apart as the edge sliced through it easily. After several minutes, Sakura had cut away all of the disfiguring thread. She stood and bent over the corpse.

"Gomen Tsunade-shishou." Sakura whispered as her hands fisted in the material of Tsunade's long green robe. Carefully, so as not to flip the body over, she took the heavy garment off. The back had three long tears that traveled from the right shoulder to the left hip in it, and the robe reeked of death. Wrinkling her nose slightly, Sakura pulled it on. She knelt next to her teacher once more and slid her hands under the body of the other woman. Sakura lifted Tsunade bridal style and began to run towards the smaller adjacent clearing where she had left the unconscious Naruto.

She stopped several yards away from her prone teammate, knelt and carefully placed her precious cargo on the ground. Then, she stood and, passing Naruto again, she walked to where her ruined shirt lay entangled with Naruto's jacket. Pulling the garment out of the pile quickly, she trekked back to Tsunade.

Cautiously, she pulled the shirt over the Gondaime. Tsunade's breasts were far too large for Sakura to close her shirt so she pulled it to and fro, trying to cover as much of the dead woman's chest as possible. Smoothing out a few of the wrinkles in the shirt, Sakura reached into her still damp weapons pouch. Drawing out all of her remaining senbon needles and seven of her eighteen shuriken, she began hiding them all over the Hokage's person.

Quickly, Sakura stood and made her way towards her discarded pack. She retrieved the stained cloth bag and in a matter of seconds she was back at Tsunade's side. Fishing around in the pack for a few minutes, she drew out several exploding notes. "Looks like I'll need you to do one more thing for me, Shishou." Sakura whispered as she rigged the body to explode if moved.

Carefully, she placed her hands on the corpse and began to weave a complicated genjutsu around the body. When she was finished, a replica of herself lying on her back, with her hitai-ate pulled down over her eyes, had taken the place of her shishou's cadaver. Sakura stood, and stopping to pick up and put on her pack, made her way back to Naruto. Checking him over a final time, she bent down and laid her hands next to his side. Taking in a deep breath, she focused and began pumping her chakra into the ground around the boy, creating a sort of shield that would stay up for several hours.

Sakura stood on the bank of the pond for several minutes, deep in thought. _From here on out there was no turning back. No more friends to fall back on. No more Konoha. No more Sai, or Kakashi, or Ino. No more Lee or Naruto. No more Tsunade or Shizune. No more working at the hospital. No more mercy and no more Sakura. Only blood and rage and terror._

Mentally going over the traps she had placed around the small clearing one last time, she gathered the small amount of chakra that still remained in her body and, with an inhuman speed, shot off across the pond, leaving behind only ripples.

**...**

**Macadamia here, hope you like the story so far…this chapter was a little slow, Sakura will eventually meet some Akatsuki…eventually….anyway, I will try to update at least once every two weeks, but I can't make any promises… and just to let you know, I love reviews, but it is your choice whether or not you put one up…so feel free to tell me any ideas or thoughts you have on the story so far….Thank you for reading**


	3. Of Twisted Sorrow and Steel

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Naruto….let's just assume I own nothing…shall we?**

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Warm air blew gently through Kakashi's hair as he paused on the large branch of an old sycamore tree. His fingernails scraped the top layer of bark off the giant plant as thousands of muddled thoughts rushed through his head.

_Tsunade-sama, the Gondaime Hokage, is dead. The scene around her body…clear. No broken trees or earth, no scorch marks, no residual chakra in the area, no shuriken or kunai, not even a senbon needle. No signs of a summoning, either. The Gondaime did not fight the Akatsuki there, then. The battle must have taken place elsewhere, then, after killing her, they must have dragged her here and left her. But, no booby traps? No poisoned razor wire or exploding clones to kill intruders or potential rescuers? _

He moved to the edge of the limb and dropped down thirty feet or so to the forest floor, twisting in the air, catlike, as he fell, landing without a sound on his hands and feet. Standing warily, and reached up to one of the many breast pockets of his Jounin vest, unsnapping the bottom flap and deftly catching the small object that fell from the slim enclosure. His thumb traced circles over the thick, opaque skin of the tightly wrapped scroll, as he tried to find comfort in the familiar object. Taking a final deep breath, he reached up and ran the pad of his right thumb over a sharp twig jutting out from one of the smaller branches of his former perch as his left hand flicked the scroll open with the ease of experience and practice.

_Why would they want Tsunade-sama anyway? For the bounty? But why leave the body then? To make a point? To show the shinobi nations that the Akatsuki are still just as dangerous as before their spymaster was killed by his own grandmother and a fifteen year old girl? Some unknown motive? Damnit! Stay calm…we need to find the battle scene and then track them from there…_

"Pakkun. I need you and the other nin-dogs to find something for me. Hokage-sama has… been killed in battle, and the body has been located. However, I cannot find the area where the battle actually took place. It must be found if we want to have any clue as to why this was done…I want you to report back as soon as you find something. Well? What are you waiting for? Go!"

Pakkun shifted slightly, but did not move. He was still dizzy from the summoning, having been at home asleep when he was suddenly pulled through time and space to land in an awkward sprawl at the somewhat distressed copy-nin's feet. The pug could smell the nervousness and fear wafting from his shinobi caller. It made him uneasy to say the least. He tilted his head to the side and growled out, "Kakashi…isn't it fairly obvious why any one would want to kill Hokage-sama? Ne? To show their power?"

"There is another motive Pakkun, one that is hidden…I don't know what it is yet…now go." Kakashi turned around and pocketed the summoning scroll as the dogs took off in different directions, their exodus causing startled birds to fly out into the cloudless sky.

The ninja sighed and focused his chakra into his feet, pushing off the ground into the trees, heading towards the clearing where he had left his two former students. As he leapt deftly from branch to branch he tried to slow his breathing and regain a semblance of his usual nonchalant and calm exterior. It wouldn't do if his teammates saw that even their squad leader was perturbed by the sudden development of Tsunade's death.

The tread of his standard issue shoes left skid marks on the low slung branch of a huge oak tree as he dropped violently to the ground. He rolled to the side as his body slammed into the leaf covered ground, several senbon needles embedded in the dirt next to his head. Kakashi was up in seconds, hands already forming the seals for a replacement jutsu.

It was just in time, as a long, thin strip of razor wire sliced through the trees on his left. The head of a wooden replacement doll hit the forest floor, bouncing several times until it rolled to its final resting place at the foot of a tiny elm tree.

Kakashi shot off into the forest, faster than before. He was still ten meters off from the clearing that had served as Tsunade's tomb of sorts. His knuckles were white from gripping the kunai he had just taken out of his pack too tightly.

Pausing at the edge of the clearing, still wary of traps, he reached out with his mind, trying to feel out Naruto and Sakura's chakra.

Naruto's chakra was faint and there were traces of Sakura's chakra spread around the area, but there was no steady stream of the life energy that normally seeped from a healthy ninja. Two shadow clones appeared on the forest floor and began making their way towards the second clearing. The clones entered the area and started to cautiously make their way towards the two prone forms, their long strides eerily similar.

Suddenly, a long row of sharpened braches shot from the ground, impaling one of the copies. The other had reacted in time, skidding backwards out of range. His eye caught motion, however, and he swore loudly as the exploding note landed on his right thigh and fulfilled its purpose.

_Both clones? The traps weren't here when we arrived. That means that either the Akatsuki returned to collect the body or take Naruto or someone from our squad set them up. The Akatsuki doesn't know that we were sent as the recovery team…so they couldn't know that Naruto was here…and Tsunade's body is missing, but why leave it in the first place if they wanted it? No…It's more likely that Sakura or Naruto moved her and set up the traps. Well, Sakura probably set up the traps. That is what she excelled in back in her Genin days...but…she didn't seem stable when I left…and the injury would have slowed her down…_

Kakashi reached up and straightened the hitai-ate on his forehead, revealing his sharingan. Dust swirled around his bandaged ankles as he treaded carefully into the second clearing, weapons drawn.

He skirted the row of spikes and the crater that had been formed by the force of the exploding note and paused. His two former students were within yards of each other. Naruto's shallow breaths caused ripples to form in the small pool of blood that had formed under his head.

The copy-nin's sharingan gave the boy a quick once over, and after he had ascertained that the Jinchuriki had simply been knocked out, he redirected his attention to Sakura. Her chest was not moving with the tell tale signs of life and she was unhealthily pale.

Cautiously, he began to make his way forward, chakra heightening his already sharp senses. He stopped several feet from the rose haired kunoichi, and knelt, crawling to her side. His view of her face was obstructed by the hitai-ate. Hesitantly, he reached forward and pulled the cloth and steel identification to the side. Kakashi shot backwards as soon as the bloody gaping holes where eyes were supposed to be came into view.

Long, sharp senbon needles and broad, heavy shuriken shot out with deadly speed, propelled by the force of the explosion. Kakashi lifted his hands in preparation to begin the replacement jutsu, but just as the first sign was formed, something slammed into his arm, tearing brutally into the muscle, cutting to the bone. He twisted to the side gripping his injured arm as one of the shuriken flew by hissing angrily before slamming into a young sapling, bending the tree backwards with the force of the hit.

The quick maneuver had left him off balance, and slightly dizzy, he watched as the distance between the ground and his body shrank. Regaining some focus, he slammed the palm of his uninjured hand into the earth and used it to pivot out of the way of more deadly shrapnel.

His pivot sent him into a haphazard roll along the projectile littered ground. He grimaced as he skidded to a halt, now bearing several more cuts and gashes than before. He sat up quickly but carefully, trying not to jar his injured arm.

The roll had left him facing the still unconscious Naruto. He was untouched. Taking a deep breath, Kakashi lifted his uninjured hand to the long, thin, cutting shrapnel embedded in his now useless arm.

With a final breath, he steeled himself and pulled the intruding object from his bleeding limb. Hurriedly, he ripped a long strip of cloth from the bottom of his shirt and with it, formed a makeshift tourniquet for his arm. Finally, he glanced down at what had injured him.

With a sinking feeling, he realized what had hit him. Carefully, he swept his thumb across the thing, clearing off some of the blood, revealing part of the Konoha symbol, burn marks making it nearly unidentifiable. _A_ _Hitai-ate_. _Sakura's Hitai-ate._

Kakashi's head swiveled to where the body had been lying. Broken rocks and shards of metal had replaced the cold, rotting flesh and bone. A large crater, twice the size of the first, had been carved deep into the earth by the violent blast.

The copy-nin stood slowly. Turning to face Naruto again, he began to make his way over to the boy. Kakashi reached his former student without incident and stretched out to touch him. He stopped abruptly.

A wall of chakra, the green color identifying it as Sakura's, had stopped him. Kakashi pulled his hand back and the wall faded away, becoming invisible once more. _Well, that explains why he wasn't hit by any of the weapons…damn…he wasn't even singed… _

He felt for the wall with his good hand. Small green sparks rolled from the mass of chakra as Kakashi applied pressure to it, testing its strength. He scowled and let his hand drop to his side before leaping back several feet.

Spreading his legs slightly for the steadying effect, he forced both arms to begin making the signs for Chidori. Sweat rolled down the side of his face, soaking the half mask that covered his nose and jaw. Pain flashed up the injured limb, but he continued to ignore it, even as he focused his chakra into it.

Gripping his forearm with his good hand, he began to sprint forward. Inches from the wall, he turned sharply and released his right arm, allowing it to fly free. The two chakras, blue and green, met and with a loud crackle and a grunt of pain from Kakashi, the wall fizzled away to rejoin with the living energy of nature.

Gritting his teeth, the Jounin shook his student, trying to wake the kitsune. Swearing under his breath when Naruto didn't even stir, he got up and walked around to kneel at the Jinchuriki's left side.

Kakashi slid his left shoulder under the boy and carefully lifted him from the earth. He ignored his own discomfort when Naruto's blood and saliva began to seep into the front of his vest, soaking through the heavy fabric to reach the long sleeved shirt underneath, and took off into the forest in the same direction from which he had come.

…………………………………………………………………………………………...

The muscles in Sakura's thighs screamed as she stopped abruptly, pitching forward, arms swinging wildly in an attempt to steady herself. Forty or so feet below her, a heavy set husky wearing a Jounin vest, was relieving itself on a mulberry bush.

The nin-dog finished his business, and seemingly sensing something, looked up at the tree that loomed over him. A small red squirrel shot along one of the branches before leaping to another tree. Shaking his head, the husky turned around and began to lope away from the tree.

Sakura let out the breath she had been holding as she shifted into a crouching position, her hair and the fibers of Tsunade's heavy coat sticking to the rough bark of the tree. She had moved just in time.

_So, Kakashi's already called on the dogs…He probably couldn't find the battle scene either and sent them out to look…Pakkun doesn't know that I left yet, but to speak to him is risky. He might be able to identify my scent and track me._

She shifted restlessly, hands toying with the opening flap of her weapons pouch. _Chances are the dogs have found the scene already…but I can't risk being caught by them...and I can't waste time waiting for them to leave...so…it looks like I'll have to find those shit- heads another way…_

Sakura stood and stepped off the side of the narrow branch, allowing herself to drop several feet before her hands shot out, gripping a sturdier branch. She pulled herself up with some effort, her right shoulder throbbing slightly at the action.

_How does one get into close contact with Akatsuki? Kill one of their friends and they'll come to you…so the question is…where does one find a deadly crime lord? Each country has them…but, Grass country isn't too far away, and their government isn't particularly strong or organized, so there are probably more crime lords there._

Her mind raced as she flashed through the trees, the undersides of her boots sending pieces of bark and twigs out into the abyss of the forest, their slow descent to Earth the only indication she had been there.

_So Grass country it is…Hopefully Kakashi and Naruto weren't hurt too badly by the traps…_ She had reached the very edge of the forest. She turned and began to head north, staying in the cover of the trees. The last few rays of the setting sun warming her side as she flickered from branch to branch, leaving behind no trace.

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

_Pain. Fear. Sweat. Death…stinking, festering, burnt flesh, metal, blood…_ Naruto's nose twitched as he tentatively opened an eye. His world spun as a wave of nausea hit him. He shuddered violently and coughed, spitting out blood.

Suddenly, the source of all those horrible smells neared him, and two muddied, ripped ninja sandals stepped into his narrow line of vision. His bloodshot eyes strained upwards trying to see just who those sandals belonged to.

"Yo! Naruto…"Kakashi smiled through the thin black cloth of his mask and raised his hand in greeting, glad that the boy had finally woken up from his unconscious sleep. He gingerly rolled his student onto his side and watched curiously as another shake wracked the boy's body.

"Don't try to say anything…Sakura-chan did a number on your head. I'm no medic, but even I can tell that your jaw is broken…probably dislocated too…" The copy-nin continued on, unusually friendly and almost…unsure? Afraid?

"Anyway, we have some things we need to discuss…" said the Jounin as his hand slowly sloshed through the growing puddle of blood under Naruto's face. He pulled his hand back and inspected the tiny object he had squeezed between two of his fingers.

"Kakash…" _SHIT! THAT HURTS! _Naruto stopped speaking abruptly, mid-word, as a searing pain flashed up the side of his face. "Gaaaaahhh…." He managed weakly, sitting back, now focused on his former teacher's face, or what could be seen of it.

"Our current plan…is to retreat. Both of us are injured, and Sakura…it is quite possible that Akatsuki is planning an attack on Konoha, now that we have no Hokage. If that happens, Konoha will need every available combatant. That includes you and me."

Kakashi sat down on the long, narrow log he had pulled over to the tiny, sputtering fire in the middle of the camp. The man fiddled absentmindedly with the tiny object as he paused, thinking. "Our main priority right now," he continued, "is to get back to Konoha and find a new leader. If the news that Konoha is missing something so important gets out…things will be bad…"

"Kakashi-sensei. Where is Sakura-chan?"

The older man turned shocked to look at his former pupil. The side of Naruto's face was steaming slightly, and his eyes were shut in concentration. In one fluid motion, the boy reached up and slid his jaw back into place. "Itai…"Naruto opened and closed his mouth, testing its tenderness.

"Sakura…has defected. As best I can tell, she is going after Akatsuki. I'm fairly sure you know what her motive is…" Kakashi looked at his hand as he spoke, knowing that he treading on thin ice with the Jinchuriki.

"She knocked you out, then set up traps around the clearing…one of them injured me…I sent out word to Pakkun and his pack, several of them have broken off from the main objective I set them on to search for her." A low growl rumbled out from the young man to his left.

After a few minutes, Naruto turned to face the gray haired man. "Sakura-chan needs our help. She had the right idea. WE SHOULD GO RIP THOSE BASTARDS APART WHILE THEIR TRAIL IS STILL FRESH! WE SHOULD MAKE THEM PAY!"

"Naruto…the best way we can help Sakura is by going back to Konoha and delivering the message about Tsunade to Jaraiya and the others who followed the Third Hokage's teachings. There is a large chance that Sai will not report directly to the council and will instead tell Danzou of our new situation. We cannot let that happen. It would cause a civil war…something that we can't afford right now."

This seemed to calm Naruto down a bit. He still radiated anger and discontent, but his fatigue was beginning to show through the brave façade. The boy grimaced and turned away from Kakashi, scooting several feet from the drying puddle of blood and saliva then lying down on his side.

"Get some sleep Naruto. I'll take first watch…we'll discuss things further tomorrow…oh…I believe this belongs to you…"Kakashi departed as he whipped the item he had been toying with at the back of the blonde's head.

A tan hand shot out, catching the projectile still inches from his head. He hadn't even turned around. "Eh… Nani?" He stared at the thing. It was small and white…and had come from his mouth….just then he heard several chuckles ring out from the forest…

It was a tooth…a front tooth…

"KAKASHI!! YOU BASTARD!! THAT ISN'T FUNNY!!!!"

………………………………………………………………………………………………

**Macadamia: Oh dear, long time for the update, sorry…this one's pretty long though…**

**Um…as always…I love reviews so tell me what you think…I really am not very good at keeping characters straight…then again I haven't watched the show for several weeks… anyway for those of you that want to know…Sakura probably won't meet any Akatsuki until chapter 5 or 6……I will also try to increase my update speed…so hopefully…I'll get to hear from you soon **_**Tschus**_


	4. There's Something About Drowning

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, but the story is mine. **_

_**-For my grandfather who passed away on Saturday, March 1**__**st**__**, 2008. I miss you pop.-**_

………………………………………………………………

With a graceful half twist, an exhausted Sai landed on the damp forest floor, the huge falcon behind him melting away into ink, staining the surrounding tree trunks and earth black.

Within a short time he had traveled over a large chunk of land, almost two hundred miles, he calculated, in just less than six hours. Sai staggered forward, his weary feet slipping on the black, slippery ground.

_Hokage-sama is dead. Sakura-san is injured. Naruto-kun is unstable and Kakashi-san seems unable to make quick decisions. Not to mention Danzou-sama. Should I tell him first or go straight to the frog hermit? _

His foot caught under a particularly gnarled root that had wandered quite a ways away from its mother, and he toppled forward, his knee scraping painfully against the sharp, jutting branches of a small bush before he caught himself. The full moon, hidden behind angry, rolling clouds, was doing nothing to help his situation.

_I will not be able to continue on at this pace. I don't have enough chakra to create another bird, and even if I somehow managed that, with visibility this low, I would probably steer it into a tree. _

Blood began to leak from the deep scratches crisscrossing his legs, but Sai showed no signs of pain or stopping. Instead, the root member continued on, although his quick pace wavering slightly. Slowly, almost tentatively, a gloved hand reached up to the miniscule pack strapped across his back.

With a muted zip, pack opened and he began to fish around inside. _I'm only fifty miles from Konoha. If I travel at full speed, I can make it in two and a half hours. That will have to do, for now._

Deftly, his fingers closed around the desired object and he withdrew his hand from the pack. Onyx orbs fixed on the pill case resting on his cloth covered palm, his face scrunched up in thought as he tried to remember exactly what color pill he needed.

Red. _Emergency Suicide Pill_.

Green. _A paralyzing gel_.

Yellow. _No idea_. _Anti-depressant?_

Brown. _Soldier pill_.

Purple. _Aphrodisiac._

Carefully, so as not to drop the others, he plucked two brown pills from the case. Popping them in his mouth, he came to a stop and waited patiently for the rush of pure energy that was on its way.

With one last glance at the case, he closed it and replaced it in his pack (except for the yellow pills, those found themselves bouncing angrily off the trunk of a nearby sycamore, after all, what use does an emotionless man get from anti-depressants?) and shot back into the trees.

………………………………………………………..

Sakura's landing was not nearly as graceful as Sai's had been. As soon as her feet hit the cobblestones of the road, her knees gave out, and she collapsed. Breathing heavily, she tried to stand, her body shivering from exhaustion.

Sweat ran down the sides of her face, adding to the small channels of the liquid cutting paths down her back. A wave of nausea washed over her. Bracing her hands against her knees, she coughed and sputtered. After several minutes, the need to dry heave passed and Sakura was able to straighten.

Using the back of her hand as a napkin, the girl gazed at her surroundings. _Ok. We've finally reached the main road to Grass country. And would you look at that it's only midnight. Lovely._

Emerald glared angrily at the half hidden moon and the gently curving hills in front of her. The cobblestones underneath her feet were not well laid, leaving not only large gaps and an uneven surface that screamed _'I want to make you fall down and crack open your skull!'_, but also sharp, jutting shards of rock from limestone slabs that the metal covered wheels of traders' carts had shattered.

Carefully, the medic-nin began making her way forward, and after stubbing her toes several times, she suddenly wished that she had steel lined, steel toed boots instead of steel lined sandals.

_Seriously,_ she thought as her foot hit one of the cobble stones particularly hard, _what asshole thought that sandals should be the standard issue shoes for ninjas? Obviously, no normal enemy ninjas would stab someone in the foot. No, it would take a tactical genius to think up that plan. I'll have to take that up with Tsunade-shishou when I get back._

Sakura stopped dead in her tracks. _**Finally hit you eh? I mean, when you first saw her, you went into shock, but it didn't really sink in, now did it?**__ Tsunade-shishou..._

With a renewed hatred, Sakura began to push forward, straining against her limits. A sudden wave of nausea cut her enraged charge forward short, however. _Not again. _

This time, the girl made her way over to the side of the road and sat down, placing her head between her knees. Air hissed in and out between clenched teeth, as Sakura tried to steady both her breathing and her somersaulting stomach.

In the distance, she could hear muted voices, and without thinking, the girl threw herself into the thick brush near the side of the road. Ignoring her spinning head, she waited, hoping that the voices belonged to traders hoping to get a jump on competition by traveling all night instead of the more likely scenario of a nin-squad returning from a mission.

Several agonizing minutes later, a pair of heavy hooves clomped into her view, followed shortly by a pair of slim, sandaled feet. The liver spots dotting the light, almost translucent skin, on the feet signaled that the man they belonged to was not young. To Sakura's utmost horror, the feet did not continue on immediately.

Noticing her hand was almost touching the man's right foot, she pulled the intruding thing away as hastily and quietly as she could. Another poorly shod hoof slammed into the ground where her hand had been moments before, as the man began to plod forward again, dragging the carthorse with him.

"Darling, why did we stop back there?" a soft voice sounded out as one of the large metal studded wheels rolled past the girl's hiding place. "I thought I heard something is all," came the gruff reply.

"So? Perhaps other people are out traveling."

"At this time of the night? Hardly. If anythin', it's bandits I heard. Probably getting ready to rob us silly."

"Oh don't talk such nonsense, Jin."

Slowly, Sakura crawled out from the underbrush, the elderly couple's conversation slowly fading away as the space between the two parties increased. _What is wrong with me? I should have known they were there. __**Well, nausea does tend to lessen observation skills.**_

She sat back on her haunches and waited for several minutes before daring to move. Keeping a healthy distance from the two, she began to follow them.

………………………………………………….

Several miles and hours later, Sakura paused in her slow trek. The gentle, rolling hills covered in thorny underbrush had given away quite suddenly to massive, towering cliffs.

For several minutes, Sakura had to search for the path the couple and their cart had taken, finally spotting the thin, haphazard trail that made its way along one of the larger cliff-sides. With a sigh, the exhausted Konoha-nin began to make her way along the trail, careful not to go near the edge that dropped off sharply only two and a half meters away.

_Ok, so Grass country must be nearby. __**How do you figure that?**__ Well, let's see, Fire country ends where the Gotu River meets the Kidou River. There is a large, wooden bridge, the Wheat Bridge, that officially marks the end of Fire, but those two rivers serve as the unofficial boundary line. _

_**Yeah and?**__ That, _Sakura thought glancing meaningfully at the muddy, fast moving water only thirty feet below her current altitude, _is the Gotu River. __**Well, damn.**_

Sakura scuttled backwards, away from the edge, until her back slammed into the rock wall, her inner-self quiet once more. Noting how far ahead the elderly couple, obviously Grass country natives judging by how easily they navigated the cliffs, had gotten, the kunoichi hurriedly tried to lessen the distance.

If she lost sight of them, she would have to wait until her chakra returned so she could water walk out of the dangerous, cliff-maze hybrid.

…………………………………………………………

Sakura jolted awake as the kunai sliced through the top layer of skin on the back of her arm. Silently, she looked down at the makeshift alarm she had fastened out of some string she had found in her pack, one of her remaining kunai, and her knife scabbard.

The string attached the kunai to the plain scabbard. As long as she was awake, she could move so that her arm would not hit the threatening blade, but as soon as she fell asleep, her movements would change and she would nick herself.

_**Hey, dipstick. That was a close one. You started walking towards the edge in your sleep. I had to take over for a minute to keep you from trying to learn how to fly. **__Shut up._

_**You know, going without sleep for twenty two hours is not healthy. **__I've done it before.__** Yeah, but you had all of your chakra then. Now you have less than half. **_

_And? That's happened before, too.__** You've been through an emotionally exhausting ordeal. You've never had all three happen at once. Your brain is shutting down, which is why I'm here, consequently. **_

_Gee…My hero._ Sakura stopped short as she rounded a particularly sharp corner and came within feet of the back of the cart. With a muffled _shit_, she threw herself backwards and gripped the cliff-side with an arm, using it to swing her back around the corner.

_When the hell did I get so close to them?__** I told you not sleeping for almost an entire day isn't healthy. **_

After several minutes, Sakura finally decided it was safe to peek around the corner, and she did so, tentatively. The wagon had moved forward slightly then stuttered to a halt. The giant carthorse let out an exasperated whinny as it tried to tug its heavy load forward, the back wheel stuck on a large sharp rock.

With a final, mighty tug, the horse freed the wheel and lurched forward. The beast, not expecting that his load would suddenly become much easier to pull, was thrown off balance, and fell to the side.

A large portion of his hulking mass, landed over the edge, and in horror, Sakura watched as gravity did its work and pulled the writhing creature into the abyss. The horse hung in the air for a terrible moment, its legs kicking feebly as it strangled on the heavy oak yoke, before the cart crashed to its side, and with shouts and curses from its occupants, was also pulled over the edge.

_Oh shit! _Sakura rushed forwards and peered over the edge. The river water had completely swallowed the cart and its inhabitants, a plume of mud the only indication that anything had disturbed the current.

Apprehension plastered on her face, Sakura waited for someone, anyone, to surface. Seconds passed and without a second thought, the girl leapt over the cliff, her earlier fear forgotten.

_**What the fuck are you doing? You'll die! **__They need my help! They'll die! __**You didn't know them! Who the hell cares if they die?! Aren't you supposed to have abandoned your "good Konoha shinobi image"?**_

_I have. But that doesn't mean I can sit back and watch as innocent people drown!_ _I'm still human! _The thought flashed across her mind as she hit the water, and she realized belatedly, that she had forgotten to take a breath.

Using her chakra to push her towards the surface and to keep her from being swept downstream by the violent current, Sakura took in a healthy breath of air before diving back into the murky water.

Dirt swirled around her, catching in her hair and scratching the skin on her unprotected face and neck. Blindly, she swam farther into the swirling vortex of murk, hoping that she was heading in the right direction of the cart.

Something caught the sleeve of her robe, and surprised, Sakura turned to stare at the long, bony fingers fisting in the dark cloth. Then she was gazing into the dark beady eyes of the old man.

The thin layer of film covering the black orbs and his slack jawed expression marked him as a lost cause. Sakura reached out and pried his hand from her sleeve, breaking the man's fingers as well as his death grip.

The kunoichi blinked, and after a few moments of deliberation continued on with her former mission, deciding to abandon the corpse to the river's whims.

Seconds later she found the cart, literally bouncing off its back. Steadying herself, she began to feel her way along the side, nails scratching deep gashes into the wood as she tried to resist the strong pull of the current.

Running a hand across her eyes to clear away some of the dirt, Sakura reached the driver's bench and began to search for the heavy, metal latch attaching the horse harness to the thick beams of the undercarriage.

She flinched away when an angry black hoof slammed violently into the front of the cart, sending the entire structure backwards several feet. Sakura, whose hand had been wrapped around one of the beams, held on for dear life as she was dragged with it, air bubbles streaming from the side of her mouth.

_Holy shit! I didn't know the horse was that close. __**Looks like Seabiscuit's getting desperate. See what you got yourself into? And for what? The old man already bought the farm. The hag is probably dead too. Futile! **__Shut up._

As the cart skidded to a halt, Sakura's hand closed around the latch and she pumped her free arm in triumph once before she thudded into the stationary mass of wood and iron. Prying herself off of the side of the cart, she gripped the latch in both hands and squeezed.

There was a flash of pain as the iron latch broke, the metal shards cutting deep into the palms of her hands, but she ignored it. With an almost silly grin plastered on her face, she turned to watch the horse, suddenly free, lurch towards the surface.

Her grin disappeared quickly, however, when the animal's powerful back legs clipped the cart, sending it crashing onto the girl. Trapped beneath its crushing weight, Sakura scratched feebly at the muddy riverbed.

The force of the blow had knocked the breath out of her and as she lay there trapped and gasping, water began to pour into her lungs. _**I told you not to do this. See what happened? Survival of the fittest, I guess you just weren't good enough. **_

Shadows flitted in and out of her rapidly darkening vision. Some tall, some short, some beautiful, others gruesome. All were familiar.

One of the taller shadows moved forward. Teasing, taunting the dying girl. It's long, thin hand caressing the side of her face.

"Sakura…baka…get up."

The girl blinked, trying to comprehend the soft whisper. Slowly, the shadow hand left the side of her face in favor of floating strands of pink.

Twisting the locks of hair around its fingers, the hand gave them a gentle tug, and the figure whispered softly, "A good apprentice would not die this way."

Dull emerald flickered up to stare into warm brown. The brown hardened.

"Now get up!"

And suddenly, it was like she was back in medic training. Chakra poured into her lungs, forcing the destructive water back up her esophagus and out of her mouth and nostrils, before sealing off the open passageways. Immediately, any unused energy moved on to her heart, slowing it down while at the same time repairing some of the damage inflicted by the dirty water.

Carefully, Sakura sank her palms into the riverbed behind her, the cool mud quickly soothing the fiery pricks of pain as it seeped into the lacerations crisscrossing the already scarred skin. Using her hands to pull herself backwards, inch by inch, she managed to wrench one of her legs out from under the massive cart.

In her hurry to rid herself of the massive weight, she had twisted the other leg the wrong way and had gotten it stuck in between a wooden beam and a large stone, half hidden by mud. When twisting and almost frantic tugging provided no results, Sakura resorted to sending a chakra packed kick into the side of the wagon.

Due to the small amount of chakra backing up the blow, the cart flipped over only once, nevertheless collapsing into itself upon landing. Through the wreckage Sakura could see the faint outline of a plump hand, and with a sick feeling, she realized where the other cart owner had gotten to. _**Oh well, you win some, you lose some.**_ Sakura glanced around at her surroundings one last time, a shiver ran up her spine when she realized she was alone, before wrenching her hands free from her muddy anchor.

Wasting no time, she began to swim towards the surface, reaching it just as her makeshift air supply ran out. Gasping, she floated on the surface for a moment before being dragged back under.

Seconds later, she reappeared and tried to stay afloat as the current to carry her downstream. As she floated in the water, half dead, Sakura fancied that she heard a soft whinny. _Don't tell me the horse didn't make it. Not after all of that._

Eyes searching for the source of the noise, emerald finally locked on the massive black horse. The creature pranced happily (dragging the useless yoke with it) in a circle before shaking some of the moisture from his glistening coat.

For a few seconds, the girl just stared at the obviously happy animal. And then it hit her. _LAND! EASILY ACCESSABLE LAND!!THANK GOD!!_

In moments, she was swimming like a madwoman towards the small, gently sloping bank, ignoring the flare of pain in her lower back and shoulders that the sudden, rapid movements caused. With a sigh of relief, Sakura dragged herself ashore, careful to keep her distance from the carthorse.

_Which reminds me…where did the old woman get to? __**Who cares?**__ I do. I did not just jump into a river for my own excitement. __**Ah, but you must admit, there is something about drowning. A sort of calm feeling that comes over right before your heart shuts down and your soul is ripped from your body. **__That's sick. _

_**But true**_, her inner-self interjected before Sakura was pulled back into reality by a tug on her hair. Glancing up warily, she found herself inches away from the horse's flaring nostrils. The beast looked at her, dark eyes liquid, and went back to nibbling her hair.

Too tired to swat the nuzzling animal away, Sakura laid her head down on the ground and curled into the fetal position. The horse followed her descent and lied down next to the shivering girl, his warm chest sending waves of heat into her soaked form.

…………………………………………

_**Macadamia: Okay people, I am back after what…five weeks or so? Unfortunately, over the last five weeks my house has been acting as a hotel for at least four out of town relatives who were up here visiting our dying father/grandfather in the hospital. They all left on March 7**__**th**__** so…I now have access to the computer again! YEAH! Hopefully, I'll be able to get the next chapter out sooner. Only one more chapter to go before she meets Hidan and Kakuzu! YEAH! Can you feel the buzz of excitement? **_


	5. Calm Before the Storm

"Naruto…If I told you once, I've told you a thousand times…I am not going to sleep with you…Now, leave me alone," Sakura murmured into the cool flesh of her arm, swatting halfheartedly at the hand tugging on the back of her cloak

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, if I did, the Akatsuki would still have all its members alive and functioning**_

**You know what? I give up on deadlines. It seems as if every time I say, oh I'll try to have a chapter out every other week, I disappear for three months…so scratch that! Anyway, thank you all for your wonderful reviews! Only one more chapter until Sakura and someone from the Akatsuki meet! So keep those reviews coming because they fuel my writer's passion! Enjoy!**

…………………………………………**.**

"Naruto…If I told you once, I've told you a thousand times…I am _not_ going to sleep with you…Now, leave me alone," Sakura murmured into the cool flesh of her arm, swatting halfheartedly at the hand tugging on the back of her cloak.

She heard a snort of amusement and felt the cloth lift off her back again. "Naruto…stop, damn it. Even if I _did_ have enough energy to do anything with you, it most definitely wouldn't be _that_! Besides, I hardly have any energy at all! "

Something wet and warm slid along the shell of her ear and suddenly Sakura found she had just enough energy to launch herself across the entire length of the stretch of land.

"NARUTO - HENTAI!! BAKA!! I'LL KILL YOU!!"

Eyes wide with surprise, Sakura swiveled her head from side to side, even going so far as to peer over her shoulders, looking for the Kyuubi container. Finally, deciding that her teammate was not, in fact, hiding somewhere in the immediate area, she peered inquisitively at the only other creature around.

The large horse gave yet another amused snort as he watched his companion's bewilderment slowly fade into understanding. Never breaking her gaze from the animal, Sakura rose to her feet slowly, shaking out her stiff and trembling arms as she did so.

With a muted sigh, she began to walk towards the source of her annoyance. The moment she put weight on her left leg, it buckled and she fell face first into the dark mud with a soft _splat_.

_**Heh…Nice. Very graceful.**__ Do you ever do anything useful?__** Not really.**_

Spluttering, the girl pushed herself off of the ground, the pain immediately lancing through her body a cruel reminder of her recent adventures. Turning to sit on her uninjured leg, she hesitantly pulled the tattered, damp cloak away from her body.

She gave a low whistle as she surveyed the damage her previous day's activities had inflicted. Angry purple bruises ran across the tops of both thighs and several large splinters stuck out of her calf at haphazard angles.

Her medic training kicked in immediately and with a quick, (trembling) breath, the kunoichi steeled herself for the consequences of what she was about to do. _**I don't think I would do that yet,**_ chimed in Sakura's inner-self as her hand closed around one of the slivers. _And why not? __**Oh, no reason. But don't you dare say I didn't warn you.**_

With a grunt and a swift tug the wood was free. Two things happened very fast.

One, there was the anticipated flash of pain as the splinter left the soft flesh of her leg. Two, Sakura fell onto her side clutching her hand to her chest, swearing furiously.

_SHIT! THANKS FOR THE GODDAMN WARNING!! __**Hey, I told you so.**__ No! NO YOU DIDN'T!!_

_**Yes I did. I said, "Not a good idea."**__ That was just half assed advice! __**Half assed or not, it was still advice. My advice, which, should always be heeded. **_

After a few more moments of bickering with herself, Sakura managed to sum up enough focus to send some healing chakra to the palms of her hands, where the mud-caked lacerations had torn open and blood had mixed with dried dirt creating a wet mahogany colored solution.

With a heavy sigh, the girl returned to her healing session. Aside from a few fractured ribs, a few scratches here and there, some missing fingernails, and the splinters in her leg, Sakura had come out of the river ordeal relatively injury free.

Another snort sounded from over her shoulder, and the kunoichi turned to stare at the large, sorrel carthorse who, was trying, unsuccessfully, to rid himself of the broken yoke.

Noticing that he had been caught in a rather embarrassing pose, head curled over his shoulder, tongue reaching hopefully for the yoke strap, the horse let out a surprised whinny and whipped his straining cranium around to face her.

Girl and equestrian stared at each other for a few minutes, green delving into brown, brown delving right back into green. Sakura was the first to move, walking over to the giant beast before running her hand along his smooth coat, leaving a streak of mud in her wake.

His eyes never left her face, even as her slightly swollen fingers worked to undo the surprisingly intricate set of straps and buckles. With a heavy thump, and a string of curses from Sakura, the yoke fell to the ground.

Angrily, Sakura kicked the beam off of her throbbing foot. The horse, which had skittered out of the way of the wood as it flew across the bank and landed in the river with an earsplitting splash, trotted over to his champion and rubbed his huge, fuzzy cheek against the side of her face, leaning down almost a foot to do so.

Surprised, Sakura leaned into the furry caress, enjoying the sensation of something soft rubbing against her dirty face. Her keen sense of hearing picked something up, a small crinkling noise, and she froze mid stroke. Not moving from the horse, Sakura focused all of her attention on the noise, her eyebrows creating tiny creases in her forehead as they bent in concentration.

By the time she realized where the crinkling was coming from it was already too late. In a sudden movement that caused the kunoichi to flinch and reach for her weapons pouch, the horse reared back his head and…sneezed.

It was one of those horrible animal sneezes, the ones where the snot shoots out of the nostrils at an impossible speed and smothers everything in its path.

Sakura was hit at point blank range. With a muffled stream of curses, the girl's hands reached up to claw at the snot enveloping her as she fell back onto the ground. A tiny giggle escaped from her lips at the ludicrousness of the picture in front of her.

The horse was swinging his head to and fro like a madman, trying to rid himself of the single strand of pink hair that seemed glued to the inside of his nostril. Still chuckling, Sakura swiped a hand down her own face before she cupped her companion's and pulled the rose lock out of his nose with a satisfying pop.

With a final giggle, she patted the equestrian's head and moved to his side, and after several (unsuccessful and muddy) attempts she managed to mount him. Feeling odd balancing on another creature's ( boney) backbone, Sakura leaned forward on the horse and rubbed her face against the coarse fibers of his mane while chakra gluing her legs to his sides.

Out of the blue, the girl's stomach let lose a very unladylike growl and Sakura groaned, remembering just how long it had been since she had actually eaten. "First on the agenda, food. Second," she glanced down at the horse, "bath."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Sakura sat slumped in a large, very hard, wooden chair, trying to look as small and inconspicuous as possible. The ride from the riverbank to the tiny, impoverished town had been…interesting. With a sour look plastered on her face, Sakura silently vowed never to ride a horse again.

A sharp _Tsk Tsk_ sounded from over her shoulder and the girl turned to look at the woman who had issued the derogatory sound. She was a pretty little thing, her high cheekbones and long, curling eyelashes paired with a darker than usual skin tone gave her an exotic look.

In a lightning quick motion, the woman's hand reached out and snatched a much larger, dirtier hand, intent on groping, from the air. The corners of the woman's lips dipped and she snarled at the owner of the hand in a low voice, as exotic as her appearance.

"We don't serve _that_ in this establishment. If you want some of that," she leaned in close, her dark curls brushing against the top of the man's bicep, "go find a whore." With a snap of her wrist, the woman released his hand and slammed his chair backwards with her palm. The man toppled onto the floor in an unsightly heap of limbs and the two old men in the corner, both long time patrons of the teahouse, chuckled.

Sakura bit back the laugh that was threatening to slip out from her pursed lips. As the owner turned around and began to reposition her skirt hem, the patron rose from the floor and lunged forward intent on humiliating the pretty woman.

A gloved fist met him in midair and the man was sent flying backwards. His back met a table top and he skidded across the surface until he was jolted to a stop by something unforgivably hard.

He glanced at the heavy black boot next to his head which had brought the abrupt ending to his table slip and slide adventure, before shifting his gaze up to stare fearfully at the woman pinning his arm to the hardwood surface with her knee. Sakura let a crazed smile flash across her face as she reached down and encircled the throat of the disruption, applying just enough pressure to his neck to make him uncomfortable.

"It's not very nice to attack people when their backs are turned. Didn't your mother ever teach you manners?" She leaned in closer, the tips of her bubblegum hair dragging mud across the man's plump cheek.

Trying hard to hide his trembling, the man slowly groped for the set of silverware to his left. In a desperate motion, he jerked the butter-knife free from its tight napkin-cocoon and stabbed.

Both of Sakura's parents were civilians. Her entire life she had lived with them, and, almost everyday she had had the chance to observe their movements, so much slower than that of a ninja.

But she was sure even her father, a very unhurried individual, would have been able to stop the pathetic stab that the pinned man aimed at her thigh. "Guess not," she whispered and, with a satisfying snap, Sakura broke the offending wrist in two, and climbed off the table, dragging the thug along by his broken limb.

Shifting her awkward grip to get a better hold (she had had to reach across herself to grab his wrist); Sakura literally whipped the man out the open door with one hand.

The pervert landed in a painful sprawl, and nursing both his broken wrist and his decimated pride, began to crawl away from the teahouse. Silence, which had fallen as soon as the thug had lunged, permeated the air of the teashop.

"Would you look at that…the little bogey beat that big fat fellow then threw 'im right out! Who'd a thunk some'un that dirty and small could beat some'un so huge and ugly!"

"Aye Bert! That uns a fighter if I ever did see one! Hey, Bata, what are you gunna do fur your own personal hero, huh?"

Slowly, Sakura turned around to stare at the other customers of the teahouse, her gaze flickering from face to face before coming to rest uneasily upon that of the owner's. The two locked gazes for a few seconds before a shout of pain and a self-satisfied whinny sounded from outside.

At the same time, both women burst into laughter, and the older woman motioned for Sakura to come closer as she tried to regain her breath. Still chuckling, the kunoichi did as she was ordered, stopping a few feet from the smaller female.

Dark, pretty eyes scrutinized the teen's less than exemplary appearance with a disturbingly shrewd gaze. "As a reward for knocking that schmuck out of my tea house," the woman paused for a breath, "I shall allow you to stay here free of charge, for as long as you need. With one condition, that is. Now follow."

Bata spun on her heel and began to march out of the main room, nodding to a tall, gangly waiter. The youth's entire demeanor seemed to change in an instant, he stood straighter and a wide grin spread across his face.

"Oi, Berto…lookit 'ho's in charge now…"

"Aye, Karl. It's Mim all right! Oi! Mim, wipe that smug grin off'n yur face and git me summa that corn cob pie!"

……………………………………………………………………….

Tasteful dark wood furniture lined the long hallway that Bata half dragged, half led, the kunoichi down. With a muffled cry of surprise, Sakura bounced off her hostess, who had stopped rather suddenly in front of a lackluster, wooden door. The older woman let out a hearty chuckle before winking at her somewhat bewildered guest.

"There's a nice hot bath in there waiting for you. Now, before you get all freaked out thinking I'm some sort of seer who predicted that we would have a," her coffee eyes flickered over Sakura once, "very dirty guest staying with us, I would like to let you know that this bath was not originally meant for you."

"It was meant for my son, Chintsuu, but I'm sure he won't mind a delay of bath time." She waggled her eyebrows expressively at this statement and Sakura let a small smile flash across her face.

"And, speaking of Chintsuu, we come to my condition. You must watch my son while I work and make sure he doesn't get into any trouble. A daunting task, I know, especially for a ninja such as yourself."

"Eh?! What makes you think I'm a ninja?"

"You pinned a man to a table, broke his wrist, and then used him as a Frisbee! That is not something your average hundred-twenty pound girl can do. Besides, one of the corps should be able to identify someone from the next generation, eh? Any way, make yourself at home and see me when you're finished. There are robes and towels under the sink."

Bata patted a shocked Sakura on the shoulder before pushing her gently through the doorway into a simple, elegant bathroom. The young woman stared at the door stunned before deciding that she would revisit this development later and turned to let her eyes drift appreciatively across the intricate tatami mat floor and bamboo walls.

Pausing only to make sure the door was locked; Sakura began, with some difficulty, to peel the second skin of cloth and mud off of her grimy body. With a satisfied sigh, she sank waist deep into the water. Lukewarm or not, it still managed to work the knots out of her aching muscles.

Tipping her head back, Sakura began to count the slats of wood comprising the ceiling while she palmed the lavender scented soap absentmindedly. Even as the flowery smell reached her nose and the thought that _Hey, maybe using scented soap isn't such a good idea for a ninja bent on revenge!,_ she was kneading the purple suds into her skin.

After she had finished and her skin was a glowing healthy pink color, she moved on to her hair. Drawing her long fingers through the tangled strands, she dipped her head under the fresh hot water (the dirt from her body had turned the bathwater brown and she had had to draw more for herself) and resurfacing, began to lather up with the lime green shampoo sitting on the floor next to the tub.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Forty-five minutes later, a squeaky clean Sakura was doggedly towel drying her hair when the door to the bathroom cracked open. Immediately on the alert, she froze in place, suddenly thankful that she had taken advantage of the silk robes she had found in the sink cabinet like Bata had said.

Muscles tensing, she sprang at the door, whipping it open in one smooth motion to reveal a small, wide eyed boy. With a muffled scream, the child began to fall backwards. Sakura's arm snaked around his midsection, stopping him in mid air. "Who are you and how did you open the door?" She hissed in mock anger.

"Ch-Chintsuu…I p-p-picked th-the lock…"

Her arm slackened slightly as she let him fall backwards a few more inches. Eyes narrowing, the girl leaned in closer and whispered dryly, "Why?"

"I-I wa-was cu-curious a-and the d-door was locked…" he answered even as tears welled up in his eyes. _Oh crap…great going, scare the poor kid to death. __**Heh…the world is a hard place to live in, he'll have to get used to it.**__ You have no sense of decency._

"So you're Chintsuu are you…?" Sakura asked as she moved the petrified boy away from the looming floor. Chintsuu nodded enthusiastically when he saw that he was not in any imminent danger.

"Well, Suu-chan, next time you're curious as to why a door is locked," she said, flashing him a grin, "…knock." The small smile that had been slowly creeping across his own tiny face instantly disappeared when she dropped him.

……………………………………………………………………..

A few minutes later, after Chintsuu had had sufficient time to recuperate from the earlier emotional traumas of being caught and dropped to the floor, and Sakura had changed into the simple uniform of the teahouse, the two made their way towards the main building.

Making final adjustments to the collar of her new plain gray shirt as they entered the main room, Sakura dragged the smaller child over to a corner table, dodging skillfully around Mim and the short, plump chef who had left his kitchen to strike up a conversation with an old friend.

The girl sat down in the only chair backed against the wall, a compulsive gesture that most ninja tended to perform, and cast a scrutinizing eye over the other occupants of the room. Absentmindedly, she began to twirl the silverware set between her fingers as plans formed in her head and her gaze wandered over the face of each staff member and patron, cataloguing their features for future reference.

Chintsuu stared wide eyed as the napkin wrapped silverware flashed through her deft fingers, faster and faster, the patterns growing more and more intricate until the definition of what exactly was being manipulated was replaced with a blur of silver and white.

_I have to give myself some more time to heal, because I can't fight an Akatsuki on par with broken bones and wounds that could split open at any time. __**Hell, you wouldn't be able to fight them**_ _**on par if you were in perfect health! Remember Sasori? He skewered you within the first twelve minutes of the fight! **_

_I was protecting Baa-sama! Honestly, who attacks their own grandmother? __**Oh, come on! Don't tell me you've never thought about karate chopping Grandma Haruno! Remember when she practically shouted that you had finally gotten your period and Kakashi-sempai and Naruto were passing by?!**__ You…well; you actually have a point there._

The child felt a chill run up his spine as his gaze shifted to his companion's face. Her eyes were no longer the vibrant emerald from before. They had dimmed to a dull forest green color and her compact, pink lips were making small trembling movements, as if she was talking to herself. Tentatively, almost as if he himself were entranced, Chintsuu reached out a hand…

_**Tell me, how are the wounds? **__My ribs are still a little tender, but they should be just about healed in three days and the rest of the cuts should be out of the dangerous phase by tomorrow. __**Good**__. __**So what are our plans for the week? **__In two days, I'll probably begin to snoop around tow-_

The silverware hit the tabletop with a dull thud, mere inches from the shaking fingers of the boy. Eyes widening with realization, Sakura quickly released the Chintsuu's arm which she had twisted behind his back and nearly pinned to the table with flatware and wrenched the ruined utensils free of the hardwood.

After apologizing to the boy profusely, the kunoichi warned him not to touch someone as deep in thought as she had been and left the shop, suddenly very intent to get away from the stuffy atmosphere and her frightened charge.

Blue eyes trailed after the lithe form as it paced out the doorway and out of sight. Slowly, the orbs traveled to the impact site and the twisted silverware. A tiny hand reached out and traced the deep grooves where the knife point and fork tines had been embedded and silently, Chintsuu rose out of his seat and slipped out the open door after her.

………………………………………………………**.**

**Okay, I am back. Ummm... let's see the lateness of this chapter was due simply to a combination of lack of computer access, writer's block, and laziness…anyway, some things may seem a bit off in this chapter as it is a fairly happy one, but I felt that a happy chapter was needed so that no one hurt themselves because of all the depressing, sad previous chapters and the horribly sad future chapter. So, I thought I would stick a happier chapter in there. Besides, Sakura can't be angsty all the time, there has to be a break in there somewhere. But, don't worry, the next chapter will actually have one of the more violent scenes in the story and Sakura's rage will be reawakened! So, until next time, Adieu!**

**...**

**Mini update: As of 8/5/08 I have begun the next chapter and I promise that I will have the next chapter out before school starts up again (which starts on the 25th). Beware though the next chapter will be very bloody... anyway, I'm thinking of merging chapter two and three together to make one GIGANTO chapter so let me know what you think of that... By the way thank you all for reviewing. I'll name names in the next chapter...CARRY ON!**

**...**

**Okay...another mini update...due to certain circumstances (my father's computer up and died on him), this update will be a little later than I planned, but I promise to make it up to you guys with the length...also I've noticed a strange trend, whenever I update TDFTCATHM I get reviews on this story...which is very strange... so... I'm sorry again, but my dad needs my computer so he can work and pay the mortgage so that we can continue to live in our house and I can continue to write fanfiction...(I will be working on it still, and I have about 2,000 words down already)...Also, I need a BETA and someone to bounce ideas off of...so if anyone has any tips? (I think Mokana-chan is a BETA so I might look into that)... Sorry again! **


	6. Achey Breaky Heart Part 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jack...or Peter...or Kevin...or anything really... :**

**Notes: I totally meant to have this out on my birthday (it was on the 6****th****) but there were certain circumstances that did not allow that to happen. If you want to blame something, blame my lack of multitasking abilities (you could also blame my AP History teacher who keeps assigning us multiple **_**chapters**_** to read over the weekend, my main writing time), but mostly blame me. **

**I have noticed a strange phenomena...every time I update my Temari x Hidan story, **_**The Desert Flower, the Clone, and the Holyman**_**, (in which Hidan appeared in the first chapter, go figure...) this story gets about five new reviews... Maybe you guys can explain that to me... anyway, here is **_**PART ONE of Chapter 6**_**. Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews (OH! Also, I'm extremely sorry for letting this slip past me before, but I realized I promised Hidan earlier...and I'm very sorry, he doesn't show up until part two, hopefully, of this chapter.) So I truly am sorry for what turned out to be a lie...Anyway enjoy!**

**...**

_Bruise. A discoloration on the epidermis caused when capillaries are broken or damaged, allowing blood to seep out and pool just under the skin. It can be caused by any matter of things, but is usually the result of a hard collision with a blunt object. _

_For example, a noose, _Sakura mused silently as her fingers gently traced the dark patch of fur covering the horse's neck. Slowly, so as not to disturb him, she leaned forward and rested her head against his, her green orb inches from his russet one. He blinked, his dark eyelashes tickling against her temple.

Green chakra flickered between her fingers; cool against the heat emanating from his tingling hide. The horse whickered nervously as her energy seeped into his skin, healing the angry bruises left from last night's adventure while at the same time shrinking his swollen windpipe back to its normal size.

Neither creature moved when the old, rotted barn door creaked open and light flooded the room for a few brief seconds. A small cloud of dust rose from the old hay bale when Chintsuu plopped down next to the kunoichi, his shoulder barely brushing against her bicep.

He sucked his lip for a moment, trying to sort through the mess of questions that were bouncing around his young skull, most flickering in then out too fast for him to even remember let alone consider asking.

"W-what's his n-n-name?"

"Eh?"

"T-the h-horse," he pointed at the animal, who had calmed down somewhat after realizing that the glowing green hand hovering dangerously close to his jugular was somehow alleviating the throbbing pain in his neck. At the word "horse", two large ears flickered forward and the stallion turned his head curiously towards the source of the magic word.

Sakura gave a soft "oomph!" as her head was pushed away and, too tired (or apathetic) to resist gravity's pull any longer, she laid back on the bale and gazed silently at Chintsuu, who let out an uneasy giggle and began staring intently at his twitching hands.

"Hmmm...I don't know what his name is. I just met this big guy last night." Sensing the boy's growing discomfort, she switched her gaze over to the only light source in the barn, a battered old lantern with a rip running vertically down the center of the faded kanji stretched across the thin paper. A moth was trying to fly into the flickering light, and she wondered idly if it had any idea that a fiery death would be the only thing to come from reaching its goal.

_Just like you._ The thought was sharp and taunting, but had the biting edge of reason to it.

"Well, he? I-is it a b-boy? He n-n-needs a n-name. Ev-everything needs a-a name." Chintsuu nodded to himself, happy with his sage comment. "We s-should name him."

The moth had landed on the tattered paper lantern and was making its way steadily towards the tear, blissfully unaware of the deadly repercussions. She wanted to reach out, brush it away, save it, then scold it for following something so blindly, but her morbid curiosity of whether or not it would burn to ash or somehow survive the ordeal stilled her hand.

"O-oh! I-I know! W-what about Koushi? Or GoboGobo?"

It had reached the edge and was tottering dangerously near the flame, which reared to life, its hot tendrils reaching out for the little moth, just waiting to welcome it in its damning fiery embrace. Her eyes opened wider as all of her focus was placed upon the life and death scene unfolding before her.

A pale hand shot into her view and shoed the moth away from the flame at the last second, and Sakura's whole body stiffened in surprise. Chintsuu tsked once at the insect, which was fluttering off towards the door, the lantern forgotten, before returning his focus to his newest "friend", who was staring at him as if he had just grown a second head.

His pale brows drew together in consternation as he searched for something to say to the girl. "W-who died?"

Sakura blinked in surprise, "What? What makes you think someone died?"

The brows dipped a little more and he began to root around in his pockets. "Y-you're going through t-the f-five stages o-of grief. I-It's n-n-normal f-for p-people who j-just lost someone c-close to them."

Chintsuu drew a folded orange booklet from his jacket and handed it to her. She took it carefully and for a second, she thought it was an old _Icha Icha_ book. But then she unfolded it and saw the small picture of a gravesite, complete with mourners, priest, and picturesque background with _Children's Guide for Grievi-_ (the corner of the page was missing) scrolled across the top in frilly black script.

"I-I t-t-think you're in s-stage f-four right now." His tiny hand was on the pamphlet now, gently prying her bandaged fingers away so he could open it to the first page.

"Where did you get this?" Sakura asked as her eyes scanned the columns of kanji detailing Kubler-Ross's model of _The Five Stages of Grief_.

"Kaasan b-bought it for me after faazaa died. I was t-too young to r-read it at the t-t-time, and I h-had to get Mim to read it-t to m-m-me. Kaasan c-couldn't t-talk to me for awhile, a-and oji-san told me it-t w-w-was be-because I-I looked t-too m-much like otousan."

His eyes dimmed and he bent his head, and when he next spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper.

"S-she couldn't even look at me."

Sakura felt a sharp sense of understanding. To say that she hadn't experienced the same thing, perhaps not to the same extreme degree that Naruto had, would be a lie. Her entire life she had been overlooked in favor of her teammates, her friends, her classmates.

Only recently had her own attributes been capitalized on and the only one who had seen through the flighty, vapid, preteen to the potential medical ninja was dead.

She sat up, a little too quickly, she realized as her broken ribs throbbed wrathfully, and wrapped her arm around the child in what she hoped was a comforting way. Chintsuu glanced up at her in a way that made her heart want to fly out of her chest and into the cold night.

The look he was giving her was searching and sad but at the same time hopeful. He wanted acceptance. He wanted someone to _see _him, to notice him.

"My teacher died." It was hard to form the words and unconsciously her arm tightened.

"Eh?" Chintsuu's voice was slightly strained.

"My teacher, she's the one that died. She was the first person to actually look at me like I was able to do something other than stand by the sidelines and look pretty, like I was useful."

"W-what a-about your parents?" It had raised several octaves too.

"You know how parents are, don't you? They have the predisposition to tell you the nice thing, not the true thing. Most wouldn't tell you something was wrong if you were setting fire to their house. It's nice to have someone who looks at you and sees you for who you are and what you can be and tells you your faults. I suppose," her thoughts strayed to Konoha's two taijutsu masters. They weren't related by blood, but Gai was the closest thing Lee had to a father.

"-that some parents see their children for what they are, and tell them the truth bluntly, but they are few and far in between. Besides, I'm not sure I'd want a parent like that."

Sakura released the boy from her (death) grip and he gave a silent sigh of relief and took the chance to sidle a few more inches away from her (or more specifically, her extremely powerful arms) when she turned away to retrieve the abandoned pamphlet from the hay bale. If she had noticed the increased distance between them, she didn't say anything, and instead handed it back to him before turning her attention to the nonplussed horse who had watched the ongoing exchange between his savior and the boy with increasing boredom.

"I think you're right," Sakura grinned suddenly, "we should name him." _After all, I need something to shout at the bastard if he takes off with me on his back again. _

Chintsuu stared at her, confusion plastered on his face. "I d-don't understand. A-a moment a-ago y-you were in stage f-four, depression. N-now i-it's like you're in st-stage f-f-five."

"Shinobi don't have the same reactions to violence and death as normal people. When we see someone we love die, we aren't supposed to cry. We aren't supposed to even bat an eyelid. We're supposed to finish the mission, go home, and continue on as if nothing has happened. When you grow up in an environment like that, your brain gets a little fuc- messed up."

"You're a n-n-ninja?" The question was clipped and filled with fear, and even though she kept her focus on the horse Sakura could feel him lean away from her as if she was a poisonous snake.

She wasn't offended by his terror; it was a known fact that Grass Country had some of the most militant shinobi anywhere. They didn't serve the people of the country like Sand and Fire's hidden villages. Rather, the ninjas served as shadow kings, directing the daimyo's decisions through threats, violence, and blackmail.

Sakura rested her hand on the horse's muzzle and glanced over at the boy, "Hai. I'm not a Grass Ninja though, just a medic." She looked away and her eyes glinted dangerously enough to startle the horse, though her voice kept its deceptively light tone. "I wouldn't hurt a fly."

**...**

The Hokage's office was in an uproar. As per usual when the woman of the house (or in this case kickass hidden ninja village) was away, extra work fell to the secretaries.

Now, it was not that those extra four sheets could not be done in a reasonable amount of time (they were usually done faster when the staff filled them out), or that they threw off the entire office dynamic, but a large number of mission requests had flooded the village just after Tsunade (who was the one that usually assigned them out) had left.

And so, the office ninjas pushed themselves to work faster and faster. Tubes containing all sorts of files zipped through the air at lightening speed while pens scratched diligently away at confidential papers.

An errant hidden technique scroll slammed into a pack of reports, which split open in the air and cascaded down to the impeccably polished cherry floors in a flurry of white and black. Figures moved through the rain of ink and condensed tree matter shockingly fast, their quiet murmurs interrupted at times by a louder commanding voice.

"Shin! Go and help Subaru with the mission reports! Hurry up now, or you'll be working through your lunch period!"

"You wouldn't?!"

"I would! Hanai, how are those mission assignments going?"

"Do you think it would be alright to assign Tenzou to a C ranked mission? I know he's in ANBU but he might like the break."

"That's fine. Ibizu, I know you want to help, but shouldn't you be off interrogating someone? Or thinking up a new means of psychological torture?"

"Anko is covering for me at the moment. Besides, there isn't anyone for us to interrogate. The last foreign prisoner we had was released this morning, we're just writing up the formal paperwork now."

"Excuse me, Shizune-san? It appears we have some visitors." As the last of the paper drifted to the floor, all gazes turned to the door and the two sets of brown eyes peering in curiously.

TenTen cast Iruka, the speaker, a curious if not slightly baleful look as she stepped into the room, Lee hot on her heels.

"Team Gai is back from the B-ranked mission you assigned us. We...um...have our mission reports here...well two of them anyway. You'll have to wait for Gai-sensei and Neji-kun's I'm afraid, seeing as they both checked into the hospital this morning."

There was a collective groan from the room at the mention of an increased workload, but it was quickly silenced by glares from Shizune, Iruka, Ibizu and the on-duty ANBU (well, those who had resisted the peer pressure to join in on the paperwork extravaganza and continued to stand around like statues at least).

"Was the mission a success?" Ibizu intoned as he squatted down. Rock Lee dropped to the floor to help the torture specialist with the dangerous (after all there were still people running around) task of retrieving the strewn papers from the wood while TenTen continued on with the oral report, sometimes pausing to kick errant pages closer to her teammate.

"I suppose. The Daimyo's wife certainly seemed happy to get her pet back; I just wish she hadn't decided to "upgrade"," she made quotes in the air with her fingers, "from housecat to Siberian tiger."

"So how did Gai-san and Hyuuga-san end up in the hospital?" It was Iruka this time. "Shouldn't two Jounins be able to handle one wild animal?"

"Well," TenTen scratched the back of her head and gave an exasperated sigh, "Guy-sensei threw out his back while carrying Stripey back to the Daimyo's palace..."

"The power of youth is waning in him, poor Gai-sensei," Lee muttered sadly, and Ibizu could swear he almost saw tears form in the young man's eyes. The weapons mistress sent papers flying into the taijutsu master's face with a particularly vicious kick before continuing.

"And when Neji picked up the tiger," the pencils in the room stilled as the ninjas waited to hear what exactly it was that had sent the Byakugan prodigy to the hospital, "he discovered that he is, in fact, allergic to the entire feline genus."

Iruka choked on his coffee and ended up dropping his half filled mug onto his neighbor's desk. Genma did not notice the hot liquid spilling across the thick files as he was too busy lying on the floor in the fetal position trying to hide the laughter that was threatening to bubble out of him. Likewise, other office workers covered their laughter with fake coughs and sneezes or just giggled into their hands.

Only Ibizu (who had to think of his most gory interrogation session to keep the scowl on his face) and TenTen (who was too busy sighing dejectedly) didn't crack grins (well, technically Shizune didn't laugh either because she was too busy performing the Heimlich maneuver on Iruka).

**...**

Sai hit the large double doors of the Hokage's office with bruising force. He leaned against the wood, stunned by the impact, for a few seconds before he recovered and burst into the room, silently thanking heaven that the ANBU guards who had surrounded the entrance with weapons drawn when they heard the initial crash had enough training to stop the beheading blows mid-swing, inches from his neck.

"Shizune-sama. I need to speak with you immediately in regards to team Kakashi's mission and the location of the Gondaime Hokage."

Shizune stiffened at the desperate tone of his voice and she quickly pushed away from the slowly recovering Iruka to thread her through the mass of ANBU gathered around the youth. Casting a final stern glance at the eerily still room as if to say _Get back to work_, the seasoned medic-nin steered Sai out into the hallway, past the winded Kotetsu and Izumo, and into a small room that, the youth suspected, was a janitor's closet. _Not that he cared. _

To his surprise, after she had shut the door (right in poor Kotetsu's face) and locked it, Shizune began to rearrange the office supplies on one of the shelving units anchored to the back wall.

"Shizune-sama? Team Kakashi was assigned the B-rank mission to search out Tsunade-sama and bring her back to Kono-"

"I know. Just hold on a moment...Ah there it is."

There was a loud pop followed by a series of more muted clicks as the entire wall gave way to reveal an eerily dark passage that was lit by a few (pathetic looking) naked light-bulbs. "Sorry about this," she motioned to the hallway, "it hasn't been used in a long time. Come on, this way."

"Watch your step." Her hand flashed in front of him suddenly and Shizune calmly waited, hand on his chest, as a myriad of poisoned senbon needles and kunai shot across the hallway and thudded into the wall directly in front of them.

The end of the passage opened into a medium sized room with bland stone walls and floor, a small purple loveseat sitting invitingly across from the entrance, slightly obscured from their view by a dark, low slung coffee table. As he scooted the table away from the couch so that he could sit (more like collapse) comfortably on the musty cushions, Shizune dragged a fold up chair from a shadowy corner and set it up, with some difficulty, opposite him.

"Well, what did you want to tell me?" Her voice was curious and polite if not a little sharp. Sai blinked, still a little confused by the abrupt change of scenery, "Team Kakashi was assigned to bring Tsunade-sama back to Konoha from her vacation early. We traveled to the northwest section of Fire country over the course of two days and set up camp outside the designated city at twenty-hundred hours."

A spider was busily threading its web through the supports of the coffee table, the thin spider-silk twisting in the air every time the ancient vents let loose a puff of tepid air. Shizune shifted, obviously uncomfortable in the hard metal chair, and her foot drifted dangerously close to the innocent arachnid.

"The next day, Sakura, Naruto-kun, and I went into town to locate the Gondaime while Kakashi stayed back at the campground. Upon Sakura's advisory, we checked the local gambling dens and casinos first."

Shizune let out a hangdog sigh, "Completely typical."

"After two hours with no results we decided to split up and continue our search through the entire city. Naruto was the one to find the hotel that we were told she was staying in. The staff informed him that the honorable Hokage had never checked into her room and that although there were rumors circulating of her arrival, no one had actually seen her arrive."

"Well, Tsunade has been known to get side tracked on her trips. Did you ever manage to hunt her down?"

The spider had been blown off of its web by a particularly strong gust from the vent, and was hanging precariously by a single slender thread. Sai watched expressionlessly as the spider swayed to and fro, fraying away its lifeline as it tried desperately to climb back up to safety.

"Yes." His dark eyes flickered up to stare into Shizune's expectant face, wondering idly, just how the woman would react to his news.

"We recovered her corpse this morning."

The delicate thread snapped and the spider plunged down into the darkness.

**...**

It had taken Sakura and Chintsuu nearly half an hour to decide on a name for the horse and several perfectly fine names (in Chintsuu's personal opinion) had been passed up in favor of Kyokan. Why _Sasuke_ wasn't a good name, he would never know.

After feeding Kyokan and making sure that the barn door was barred securely (_Lord knows, we don't need that jackass of a horse wandering around town causing trouble)_ the teen and boy made their way back to the teashop. This was easier said than done.

The small barn was located in the large field behind the main building and when the two friends exited they found themselves face to face with a towering wall of yellowing grass.

"Ummm...how do we get back?"

"W-well, we h-have t-to go through the f-field. Y-you got h-here okay, right?"

"Yeah, but that was during the day, when all the bugs were off sleeping." Sakura looked unhappily at the quickly darkening sky. Sure, she could brave the tall grass and creepy crawly bugs, but she really, really (really, with a cherry on top!) didn't want to, especially when any bug-away maneuvers she performed could crack her healing ribs.

"Is there any other way back?"

"I-I s-suppose w-we could just take the m-main road b-back in. It runs right p-p-past the b-back of the barn. It's a l-lot longer though."

"That's fine. I'd do anything to avoid bugs. Hey, want a ride? Don't worry, I'm a ninja," she pounded lightly on her chest, "I can take it."

Sakura knelt with her back to the boy, arms spread to the side invitingly and as she waited for him to clamber up for the piggy back ride she wondered if her ribs and aching muscles could actually take the extra weight.

Chintsuu stepped forward slowly, almost as if he were afraid it was some sort of trick, as if she would dump him off or simply disappear into thin air once he was off the ground, but after he was balanced on her back, his arms securely around her neck, her arms encircling his stick thin legs, he seemed to calm down some.

"I-I've never d-done t-this before."

"Never?" He shook his head.

"Your dad didn't give you a piggy back ride before he passed away? You never got a ride from Mim or your uncle? Your mum?" Sakura clambered carefully over the pasture fence and began to make her way to the road. "N-no. M-mim never w-wanted to and uncle's too old. Mum's always t-too busy."

"What about one of your friends? I mean, this isn't the largest village, but it's a good sized one. I bet there are a bunch of kids around your age you could play stuff like that with."

"I-I d-don't have a-any friends. All-ll the o-other k-kids make f-fun o-of me 'cause I s-s-stutt-ter and 'cause m-my f-forehead's too b-big."

Sakura almost stopped dead in the middle of the road and if it hadn't been for the fast approaching horse and buggy that she had to sidestep to avoid, she would have. It was like some sort of sick role reversal. She was Ino, the smart, talented, confident one. And he was Sakura, the abandoned, unskilled, useless one whose face was cruelly disproportional.

Chintsuu drew back a little and blushed when the teen turned to look at him from the corner of her eye. After a few moments, she turned back to the road and stated simply that his forehead was a perfectly fine size and that people who stuttered were more likely to become great linguists than snot nosed brats who didn't have a brain cell to share between them.

He was still in a state of euphoria when they reached the outskirts of town and he probably would have stayed that way until he reached home had a small rock not shot from the shadows to bounce off his cheek. A second larger rock ricocheted painfully off of his shoulder and he recoiled with a small yip instantly.

"Hey, bitch! Why don't you drop the little cocksucker and give me a chance to ride that fine ass?"

"What about me? I want to get a nice fuck with her too! I bet you'd like that you whore, taking two men on at the same time."

Sakura froze in place, her hand flashing backwards to catch the stone aimed at her passenger in a white knuckle grip. Slowly, she turned to face the two men who had emerged from the dark alleyway between the first two buildings in town, squatting down so Chintsuu could easily slide to the ground as she did so.

One of them whistled.

"Look at that, the bitch caught it. I wonder if she's as good at handling balls as she is at catching pebbles."

The pink haired teen twisted to whisper into the boy's ear and after a moment, he nodded and took off down the middle of the street as fast as he could.

"Who cares if she's good at handling balls? I just want to stick my dick in between those juicy pink lips of hers. Come here and give daddy a kis-"

He was cut off when something hard slammed into his face. The stone hit the dirt road with a heavy thunk as the second man buckled over. Sakura pulled her hand free of his stomach and backed away slightly, crouching down into her lunge-like fighting stance.

There had been no chakra added to either attack (Ok, _maybe _the rock had been thrown with a little extra oomph) and after about a minute, both of her opponents were ready for another round.

She dodged a clumsy punch aimed at her face and twisted completely around her attacker to launch a vicious kick at the other's chest. It was a good, square hit, and the man was thrown several feet backwards, slamming off the right stone wall before landing face down in the dirt.

As Sakura's foot lowered back to the ground, she felt two powerful arms encircle her waist from behind, and she let out a hiss as she was lifted into the air. She quickly found herself facing the upside-down desolate main road, and as her legs kicked angrily in the air, she felt someone's fingers run up her thigh.

Before they could reach her "special area", the teen sent a crippling kidney blow into the man's side with her elbow, cutting his cruel chuckle short as he toppled to the ground swearing.

Sakura, who was still clutched in his vice grip, nearly hit the dirt face first; however, years of taijutsu training had taught her never to lead with her (sizable) forehead and so she decided to stop her descent with her hands. She landed a kick to the man's head and he released her waist, allowing her to transform the backbend into a reverse handspring.

Back on her feet, she was just in time to deflect a clumsy kick from a third assailant who had come up the alleyway after hearing his comrades' shouts. As the teen ducked a punch, she formed her own hand into a modified fist with the first two fingers overlapping her thumb and slammed it into the heavy man's thigh.

He collapsed to his knees with a pained cry and by the time Sakura realized that it was the man from earlier who she had, as Bata had put it, "thrown like a human Frisbee", her shin had already smashed into his face for the finishing blow.

There was an eerie silence that was broken only by the pained moans of the three men as she returned to the main road, and in a snap decision, decided to forgo the standard evasive maneuvers that would throw off trackers. After all, if the "human Frisbee" was with them, they would already know where she had come from and where she was going.

She could only hope that Chintsuu had gotten home without bumping into some thugs or tripping over a particularly heavy patch of air. _**Speak of the devil.**_ Sakura turned to stare at the tiny boy as he emerged from a side alleyway. He smiled sheepishly at her before running to catch up with her when she walked right past him and continued up the street.

"You know, it might not have been a good idea to stick around. What if someone had found you?"

"I c-coulda t-taken t-them." His silver blonde hair was slightly ruffled and he bared his tiny fists with a growl as he shifted into a "fighting stance" that looked suspiciously like the one she had used back in the alley and although he swayed slightly from side to side, it was a good imitation. _Oh my God...he's too cute! I just want to take him home with me!__** Isn't he a little young for you? He's like what, 9? 10?**_

"Where did you learn that? And where," she tapped her temple with a finger and blinked at him, "did all of that self confidence come from all of a sudden?" He dropped his position immediately and kicked at the dirt, utterly abashed. "I-I ah..." Sakura squealed on the inside. "Fine, doesn't matter. Let's just get you home."

"H-hey! I-I t-thought you s-said before t-that you c-couldn't hurt a f-fly, but th-those guys back there l-looked pretty hurt."

Sakura put her hand on his back and she gently pushed him along in front of her, skillfully steering him around a pothole when he turned around to stare at her curiously. "I didn't say I _couldn't_ hurt a fly, I said I _wouldn't_ hurt a fly. Besides, those as- guys, back there were most definitely not flies. They were bad men, and bad men don't deserve mercy."

Chintsuu nodded as if what she had said made perfect logical sense and allowed her to steer him home.

**...**

The rest of the night passed in an almost absurdly normal manner. After he had brushed his teeth and put on his pajamas, (a tiny, light green shirt and pant set with a cow print that made both Sakura and her inner self melt into gooey, mushy messes from the sheer cuteness of them), Sakura tucked Chintsuu into bed and went back to the front of the teahouse to rejoin the world of the adults.

For the next two hours, she, Bata, and Mim cleaned up the dining area and took care of the kitchen while Karl and Bert talked good naturedly at them, pointing out missed spots and errant dust-bunnies.

To say that it wasn't hard to smile at the old men every time they tried to speak to her, that it wasn't hard not to burst into tears every time she caught her reflection in the back of a spoon or on the face of a particularly shiny plate, that every time she bent down to pick something off the floor her ribs and pulled wrist muscles didn't send a painful twinge through her, would be a lie and a poor one at that.

Eventually, the pile of dirty dishes shrank away and eventually disappeared and the clean, dustbunny-free floor reflected the light of the flickering flames in the gas lamps that lined the walls. Bata gave a happy sigh as she placed her palms flat on her own lower back and stretched, "All done, finally. Honestly, if I'd have known how much work owning a teashop would be, I'd have stayed a ninja."

All the other eyes in the shop shot immediately to the new girl, gauging her reaction, readying themselves to deal with the garbling hysterical mass she was likely to become after learning of Bata's prior occupation. Sakura hadn't moved from her position, precariously balanced on the edge of a table so she could reach one of the gas lamps with her cleaning rag.

Feeling everyone's eyes on her, she turned around curiously and stared right back at them and Bata's happy sigh turned to a nonchalant one, "Will you lot calm down? I've already told her what I did before this and she didn't run then; she certainly won't run away now."

After a few more moments of hesitant staring, Mim shrugged and left, waving goodbyes to the rest of the group as he passed over the threshold and walked off into the night. Soon after, Bert and Karl made their exit, talking excitedly about all of the day's various events, the highlight of which seemed to be a two for one sale at the clothing store down the road.

Feeling slightly dejected that the morning's fight hadn't been the most exciting part of their day; Sakura nimbly climbed down from her perch, threw her dusty rag into the corner with the others and followed to where Bata was waiting for her in the short hallway that opened into both the teahouse and the main hall that ran through the center of the living area.

The shorter woman greeted her with a smile and reached past her to the heavy door that separated the two buildings and, with some difficulty, she pulled it shut and gave a heavy sigh. "Ah...I'm getting too old for all of this. Sometimes it feels like my ninja days were twenty years in the past, not ten." As if to prove her point, Bata's knee gave a sharp crack as she moved past the teen. She simply snorted and continued down the hall. Sakura, who had no idea where exactly she was supposed go to sleep, stayed in the back of the hallway, torn between asking, for lack of a better title, her _boss _where she was supposed to sleep and just passing out in the hallway where she stood.

The day had been long to say the least and from her aching ribs to her bruised thighs that throbbed every time she moved to her tender, exposed nail beds, she hurt everywhere and was utterly exhausted from the rollercoaster of emotions she had endured in the past forty-eight hours.

_Forty-eight hours. Two days. It's been almost two full days since I became a renegade, since I became an avenger. Oh good God, is that all I am? Some sort of avenger? A mini-Sasuke with pink hair and an A cup?_

Bata had finally realized the problem and turned back to Sakura, raising her arm to point out a door as her tinkling voice rang out. "Umm...right, totally forgot about that, sorry. There's an extra futon in this closet, right...here...Open up! Ah, there we go."

_What the hell am I supposed to do after I kill them? __**You're assuming you'll survive? Pssh...at least you're thinking this through more than he did!**_

A large plush object was pushed into her chest and her arms flicked up instinctively to wrap firmly around it, her bandaged fingers sinking into its welcoming softness. _I fled from my home, my welcoming, safe, home, to attack a bunch of trained, deranged murderers! _

Seconds later, two warm calloused hands were on her shoulders and were steering her slowly towards a different doorway. The door itself was slightly ajar and Bata moved around to Sakura's side, her hands still planted firmly on the girl's shoulders, so that she could kick the it all the way open. _**They will rip you. **_

Sakura blinked tiredly as she entered the new room. _**They will rape you. **_Dusty tools lined the equally dusty shelves neatly nailed to the drab walls in long rows. The light of the stars flickered into the room through a filthy window covered by a threadbare curtain as gray and stained as the chipped stone floor and twisted the shadows cast by the massive blocks of wood into morbid hands that seemed to claw their way towards the two women, scratching the floor in their haste to tear them apart.

_**They will make you scream and cry until your tongue rots from your skull.**_

The shadows were almost upon them and suddenly it wasn't Bata's hands on her back, they were the old man's; cold, wet, slippery, _evil_. Her nostrils were flooded with the sickeningly sweet stench of congealed blood, rotting skin, and decaying flesh and she let out a muffled screech as she twisted away from the corpse behind her, her panic allowing its putrid fingers to keep their tight hold on her aching shoulders.

**They will find if you run. They will hunt you to your grave.** She flailed violently and landed an elbow in its stomach. The old man released her immediately and crumpled to the floor with a sharp hiss. Sakura twisted away from the approaching darkness, the searching, tearing, grinning, evil and sprinted several steps towards the door and _freedom_, and _life_, before crashing to the stones below when the old man's hand snaked around her ankle.

Her landing was awkward and her head hit the floor hard while her shoulder and most of her arm was crushed beneath the weight of the rest of her body. After kicking downward viciously, she turned so that she was lying completely on her stomach so that she could push herself up and escape. **You will find no respite from the talons they will sink into you, that will tear out your heart and burn out your eyes. Corrupting you, killing your very soul.**

In a flash, something heavy landed on her exposed back and Sakura was slammed back down and her arms were forced behind her back with a force that threatened to rip them from the sockets. She tried to scream but cold hands covered her mouth and as she thrashed on the floor she was suddenly aware that someone was talking to her. **And as you are running, as you flee from your devils, you will realize something. You have no where to run to.**

"Calm down! Calm down, you're safe...hey, hey! Child, honey, calm the...hell...down!" The last part of her attacker's whisper came out as a strained hiss and through the blurred state of her panicked mind one question formed.

Bata's breathing was ragged and suddenly she was glad that she had spent over twenty years as a ninja that specialized in submission hold taijutsu. It came in handy in situations like these when she only wanted to incapacitate someone, not hurt them. The strange girl who she had welcomed into her home just this morning seemed to have calmed down somewhat, though her breathing was still too fast and she could feel her shivering.

Bata continued to mutter reassuring sentiments to the girl as she tried to discern what exactly had caused her terrified rampage. Her coffee eyes flickered curiously around the room, over the futon that had been dropped early on in the fight and across the tool shelves that lined the walls. The room had been her husband's carpentry workshop and was the only spare room in the house with enough floor room to lay out the futon.

She pursed her lips and leaned down as the teen shook particularly hard and let out an especially loud whimper. Bata felt a shiver run up her spine as she realized that the whimpers weren't just gibberish but was a line being repeated over and over again.

_**What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done?**_

**...**

**Macadamia here. Wow, it certainly has been awhile. I was looking back at the past chapters like I always do; and I realized that I promised you guys that Hidan would show up, I think it was two chapters ago? I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to lie to you all, I just didn't realize that it would take this long to write everything that happens in this part of the story. (Damn my longwinded writing style!) **

**Anyway, unfortunately this chapter is so long I had to split it into multiple parts...this part alone is almost 6,500 words long! I hope that everything makes relative sense so far...um, I'm sorry if it doesn't, I should find a BETA soon... If you guys ever want to know anything about the story or would like something explained, please just ask me. –Cheers-**


End file.
